Roundtable Discussion on “Access to Election Information”

The roundtable discussion on 16 May, 2012, on “Access to Election Information” at the Sunway Hotel has the following objectives:

-Promote freedom of expression

-Promote access to information

-Make contribution to the dedmocratic process through media coverage of election period

The discussion is expected have the following impact:

-people have better information for their decision in the election

-The election can be conducted in a free and transparent manner

-The journalists can have better access to the information about election

In the long run, the discussion can promote democracy in Cambodia.

2. Implementation

In order to implement the project, the Club of Cambodian Journalists get the funding from Konrad Adenauer Foundation which is the only funding source of the roundtable discussion.

In the discussion, the Club of Cambodian Journalists invite four guest speakers such as Tep Nitha, the secretary general of the National Election Committee, Koul Panha, executive director of Comfrel, an election monitoring NGO, Pen Samitthy, the president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, and Denis Schrey, country representative of Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Cambodia.

The target group of the discussion are:

-Journalists who are responsible for bringing news to the public. They are one of the key players in the election

-Public: It is important that the people have sufficient and reliable information for them to make a decision in the election.

-Government officials: the roundtable discussion aimed at giving a message to the government that it is important that access to the information shall be guaranteed in the electoral process to ensure free and fair election.

-Political parties and politicians: the discussion can serve as a bridge to make connection between politicians and reporters. Therefore, in the future, there will be more communication on the politics and development in Cambodia

Methodologies

-The roundtable discussion start with presentation by speakers before the floor is given to the participants

3. Assessment

The discussion was very useful and productive because there were a lot of media reports including the reports by websites, newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations.

With such a wide spread media coverage, the discussion was regarded as successful and made long term impact on the democratic process in Cambodia.

4. Recommendations (on Sustainability/Continuation/Application)

Taking into account the importance of the discussion on the election topic, the Club of Cambodian Journalists will organize the same discussion ahead of the 2013 National election.